Jonas Mekas is a Lithuanian filmmaker, writer, and curator who has often
been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema." He
was the founder of the Anthology Film Archives, The Film Makers Cooperative
and Film Culture magazine. He was heavily involved with artists such as
Andy Warhol, Nico, Yoko Ono, John Lennon, Salvador Dali and fellow Lithuanian
George Maciunas. During the Second World War, Mekas was held in displaced
persons camps before emigrating to the United States with his brother,
Adolfas Mekas, in 1949.

Though his narrative films and documentaries are highly
appreciated, he is best known for his diary films, such as Walden (1969), Lost,
Lost, Lost (1975), Reminiscences of a Voyage to Lithuania (1972), and Zefiro
Torna (1992). In 2001, he released a five-hour long diary film entitled As I Was
Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty, this documentary is
based on the chronicles of his life.